Beijing will subsidise projects upgrading or building facilities to load and
receive grains along main railways and ports for major waterways including the
Yangtze and Pearl rivers, a document issued by China’s National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Friday.

“Setting up the special funds ... will help to reduce the cost of grain distribution
and improve efficiency,” the document said.

Inadequate transportation capacity for grain has caused backlog in the north
and spiked prices in the past, while poor storage facilities are a major cause
of grain losses in China.

China, which aims to improve its grain logistics system and boost grain storage
capacity by 2020, will also subsidise grain facilities that offer storage,
processing, trading and quality inspection services, the NRDC document said.

These so-called logistic parks must occupy at least 20 hectares of land and
have more than 100,000 tonnes of storage capacity, the document said, adding
that a single project could receive as much as 100 million yuan ($15 million).